The present invention relates to artillery. More particularly, the present invention relates to an artillery piece that is readily disposable on a transport vehicle, the transport vehicle with artillery piece being receivable within the cargo envelope of a known transport type aircraft.
There is a need for highly mobile combat units. The units should include a fleet of vehicles where each of the individual combat vehicles, the crews to man such vehicles, and sufficient fuel and ammunition should be transportable on a single transport aircraft. Specifically, the aircraft to provide the transportation is the C-130 type aircraft. Further, once the individual combat vehicle is in a theater of operations, the individual combat vehicle should have the same level of mobility as all other vehicles in the unit to ensure that the unit is able to move as a whole. While certain vehicles and relatively small weapons meet the aforementioned requirement, larger fire support systems typically have a towing vehicle and a towed cannon. With such arrangement, both the towing vehicle and the towed cannon are not disposable as a unit within the cargo envelope of a single C-130 aircraft. Further, the fact that the cannon must be towed limits the mobility of the cannon relative to other non-towed weapons suitable for use with the combat unit which are capable of significantly greater overland speeds.
There is a need then to provide a C-130 transportable high mobility cannon system including a transport vehicle and artillery cannon combination that is capable of being transported by a single C-130 aircraft in a single sortie. The cannon system should be immediately deployable upon discharge from the aircraft and have the same degree of mobility as other vehicles in the combat unit once deposited in a theater of operations by the C-130 type aircraft. There is further a need to maximize the currently existing equipment content of such a system in order to maintain low cost and to provide a low technical and schedule risk approach that will quickly provide a suitable high-mobility artillery cannon system.
The high-mobility artillery cannon system of the present invention substantially meets the aforementioned needs. The system uses an existing light weight howitzer designated XM777 as the cannon component of the system. Additionally, the system utilizes an existing vehicle designated the FMTV M1086A1 long wheelbase chassis truck that is currently in production. By using an existing cannon and an existing vehicle, overall cost of the system is greatly reduced, the technical risk of the system is minimized and a schedule for making the system available to users is also greatly minimized. In order to form the system of the present invention, both the cannon and the vehicle undergo certain modifications as noted below.
The major modification to the vehicle is the installation of the tilt bed, forming the rear portion of the vehicle bed. A stationary bed is preferably disposed forward of the tilt bed. The modified vehicle is used to transport the cannon, crew, and ammunition for enhanced tactical mobility. Further, a transport configuration with the cannon mounted on the vehicle is disposable within the weight and envelope limits established for transport by C-130 type aircraft.
In practice, the vehicle may be maneuvered into a position with the tube of the cannon oriented generally in the direction of desired firing while the cannon is still disposed on the tilt bed. The tilt bed may then be operated to place the cannon on the ground immediately behind the truck with little or no further manhandling of the cannon required to position it for firing. The tilt bed is then operated to position the rear margin of the tilt bed approximate the ground surface and the cannon is traversed down the tilt bed to a position on the ground. All that is necessary then is to deploy the cannon spades, and to transverse and elevate the gun to the final lay position. When the vehicle is disposed rearward of the cannon, ammunition stored on the stationary portion of the bed may be transferred by gravity assist down the tilt bed and made available to personnel that are employing the cannon.
In a preferred embodiment, a relatively small cab is provided on the stationary portion of the bed in order to house additional members of the cannon crew and equipment that they may require.
In a first embodiment, the cannon is disposed on the tilt bed with the muzzle of the cannon facing forward. In order to minimize the height dimension of the system of the present invention for aircraft transport, including both the vehicle and the cannon, the tilt bed is traversed slightly rearward on the vehicle chassis and tilted slightly downward. In this disposition, the muzzle of the cannon is disposed rearward of the cab of the vehicle. In a further preferred embodiment, the cannon is mounted on the tilt bed with the muzzle of the cannon facing rearward. When disposed within the cargo volume of the C-130 type aircraft, the muzzle of the cannon projects outward from the aircraft in the space defined above the ramp of the C-130 aircraft.
Modifications to the cannon include the installation of at least one xe2x80x9cquick hitchxe2x80x9d. The quick hitch is engageable with a hitch that is disposed on a powered track. The power track is disposed generally in the centerline of the tilt bed. The track hitch is powered to move along the longitudinal axis of the tilt bed so as to draw the cannon up the tilt bed when loading and to lower the cannon down the tilt bed when unloading.
When the high-mobility artillery cannon system of the present invention is delivered by a C-130 type aircraft to an operational area, the system emerges from the C-130 cargo area ready for operational employment. The entire crew is transported in the C-130 aircraft and the system with the cannon mounted on the vehicle is fully equipped with all the equipment necessary and a sufficient number of ammunition rounds to immediately employ the cannon. The vehicle contains storage compartments for the equipment and ammunition conveyors to increase crew capability, reduce timelines for employment of the cannon, and minimize crew fatigue involved in laying the cannon and conveying ammunition to the cannon.
The present invention is a high-mobility artillery cannon system transportable with the cargo envelop of a transport aircraft, and includes a lightweight field howitzer, a medium tactical vehicle, and a bed disposable on the vehicle, the bed for receiving and supporting the howitzer such that the vehicle with the howitzer disposed on the bed is receivable within an envelop having substantially the dimensions of the cargo envelop defined within the C-130 type transport aircraft. The present invention is further a method of configuring a cannon system for transport in the C-130 type transport aircraft.